Men's fall fashion: Think big

Models walk down the runway during Dolce & Gabbana's Fall 2013-Winter 2014 menswear presentation in Milan on January 12, 2013.Photo by
Tiziana Fabo

Come September, Don Draper’s wardrobe of form-fitting jackets and stovepipe pants will look as dated as an old Pall Mall cigarette ad. Following two years of trim, ’50s-inspired suits, menswear is changing shape this fall and headed in a different direction — away from the body.

Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Dsquared2, DKNY and Thom Browne heralded the new silhouette with pants cut wider through the thigh and leg, roomier suit jackets and overcoats that hang on the shoulders.

It’s altogether more relaxed than the recent trend of body-conscious and unforgiving stovepipe fit.

The new big, you might call it, will first appear in fast fashion chains like H&M, Zara and Topman, where designers and retailers alike will be gauging male consumers’ reactions.

At the fall fashion presentations last winter, all eyes were on Gordon Richardson, design and development director for Topman, who paired oversized parkas with voluminous pleated pants in winter white. (Think New Romantic parachute pants in the ’80s and you get the idea.)

Slouchy sweaters and jackets that seemed to our slim-accustomed eye to be a size too large for models also emphasized this new off-the-body silhouette, a shift from the retailer’s sharp tailoring of past seasons.

Much of this change in shape is being fuelled by millennium-generation guys under the age of 35 who have an insatiable appetite for fashion, says Anthony Stokan, partner of boutique trending firm Anthony Russell.

“Never in the history of fashion has there been more information available to guys interested in style,” he says. “There are hundreds of good men’s style blogs that are updated daily. The Internet has democratized fashion, and designers are having to respond to this appetite for new design and product.”

“Silhouettes still change slower in men’s fashions than in women’s because men’s fashions tend to be more traditional,” says Christopher Raeburn, artistic director of Victorinox Swiss Army apparel.

“That said, there is a definite movement toward comfort in men’s clothing this fall. There’s a change to softer tailoring.”

Raeburn adds that new fabrics — cashmere-blend flannel, billowy nylon twill, bonded and laminated wool — also altered some of the silhouettes in his fall collection.

Of course, this trend is as much about economics as it is about esthetics. The former commercial concerns will eventually affect the latter, when the average waist size of a man in the U.S. is 38 inches, 36 inches in Canada. Obesity rates continue to grow in North America, and even with diligent gym visits, many guys can’t comfortably wear constricting fits and slim suits seated at a desk all day.

That reality limits the customer base and wider appeal of a collection that emphasizes slimness (not a good strategy as the economy rebounds from the euro crisis and ping-ponging stock-market values).

Les Minion, a Canadian menswear executive, has watched the men’s fashion cycle accelerate in recent years and says that’s evident in this fall’s collections.

“A business guy used to be able to get five years wear out of a suit. A decade ago that accelerated to about three years. Now, changes to lapel width, jacket length and pant length change visibly every two years.

“We live in a global business environment and you have to keep up with changes in style to look current. Clients will look at your clothing and make assumptions about how up-to-date you are in business. That’s why it is important to pay attention to changing silhouettes.”

Another veteran menswear retailer confides: “More than a few successful European men’s designers have stumbled in North America because they failed to adjust their silhouettes to fit the larger American man.

“Tight fit is a tough sell here. That’s why this trend to roomier fits will be welcome news to retailers.”

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